Star Wars: Order of the Sith Lords: Savage Opress
by DepthRuler
Summary: This is my first series I'm now completely dedicated to. I have three or four more chapters to post and then I gotta continue writing. Hope you guys like it!
1. Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1

_Equality is a chain, like obedience. Like fear or_

_uncertainty or self doubt._

_~Darth Bane's teachings_

**DATHOMIR**

**SAVAGE OPRESS AND HIS BROTHER**─**FERAL**─**BRAWLED IN THEIR **difficult battle of endurance. Feral had come a long way from being the sheltered weakling he once was. The difference between the two was that Savage had more muscle memory in hand-to-hand combat, where as Feral was much better at melee. Despite that fact, Savage may have won in a battle of their two professions since he was more adept at avoiding melee weapons while proceeding to bring the opponent down in advancement.

He growled viciously as they continued pushing against each other's arms when he suddenly heard an unfamiliar, artificial sound. It struck him as surprising, and that fact was justified by the amazed reaction both Feral and Savage had. A thin, pale woman wearing a dark suit with leg exposure and a shadow-casting hood exited an open two-seated speeder, already addressing Chieftain Viscus.

Savage guessed it might've been either a mercenary or a Dathomir witch here on business terms. Either way, whoever it was, it brought the rest of the tribes to a new level of curiosity and hostility.

After a brief acknowledgment of one another, Viscus called out, "Line up! Heads of each tribe, line up for the sister!"

_Just our luck._

Savage and Feral walked side-by-side cautiously.

"Feral, try not to draw attention to yourself," he advised his brother.

"That won't be a problem for me, Savage," Feral whispered in reply.

Feral rushed to the center of the middle row as Savage took up the rear on the left line. The woman briefly inspected Savage's line in a testy, intimidating matter. After a brief moment, she nodded her head in approval and headed to Feral's line, stopping short at the shirtless, most culturally adorned Zabrak that dwelled on the front.

"What a fine looking specimen," she said, her deceivingly soft voice finally known.

She moved her fingers around his chin as though an admirer, giving the man reason to reveal his hate for the Nightsisters' nature.

Then came the cold, harsh and all the same, truthful words. "But looks aren't everything."

A cold shiver was sent down all of their spines as she grabbed his neck and pressed her unbeatable thumb down on the center of his throat. He gagged desperately as everyone pretended to casually maintain their position, though in all of their hearts, rushes of fear and false anticipation swelled. Savage's heart throbbed as the victimized tribe member was thrown headfirst onto the ground. He glanced at the struggling man on the ground as the Nightsister's attention was ebbed, raised his eyes, and then kept up the act they all played.

On the right line, she found no problem with the first warrior. The short one behind, however, she stopped next to, giving everyone more benefit of the doubt. For all of the honor they had, Savage saw none of it in standing, waiting for immense pain.

"Too small," she declared, smacking him effortlessly as he fell to the ground groaning.

Savage became more fearful as she neared the end of the lines. He had now idea how she calculated or how she dictated such procedures. He only knew that they all could've been sharing the same risk, whether or not they wanted to.

He shuttered and closed his eyes as he heard a single sound of flesh being beaten at the opposite side of him.

"Too weak!" she sneered. He barely moved his eye as she maneuvered through the stone-still lines of warriors with satisfaction. "These will do." But then she stopped in front of Feral. "Him," she said, without any hint of reason.

Savage eyed Feral briefly, but he knew the lady noticed. He couldn't outsmart her. It was obvious as he shifted his arms and his eyes quickly, though lately.

"And him," she said.

_ What is she trying to send through her mixed message?_

Savage suggested the possibility that she somehow found out about their relations, though he attempted to be as unreadable as her as she stared at his face closely. After a few seconds, he shrugged his shoulders relievingly as she returned to the Chieftain.

"These men are to your liking, sister?" Viscus asked, the desperation to get them out of their current situation flowing through his tone as he bowed his head.

"Yes," she replied, folding her hands behind her back and walking in front of each tribe. "Now for the tests. There will be three of them. Whoever survives will be my champion, and go on to serve me. Understood?"

"Yes, sister!" they all replied in unison, Savage the most regretful of all of them.

"Excellent. Let the games begin!"

**THE FIRST _GAME_ TOOK PLACE IN THE FOGGED NIGHTBROTHER **arena.

The Nightsister stood in the center of the platform, silently gathering her strength as everyone else practiced their melee weapon techniques. The challenge was to try to injure the Nightsister with their weapons or at least survive her onslaught.

Savage seemed to be the calmest one out of all of them. "We must be vigeant, Feral," he said quietly to his brother as he focused on the Nightsister, axe held in a backhand stance.

"Aren't I always?" Feral replied confidently, slashing his large, bladed weapons.

Savage saw two reasons why Feral was confident. He was currently going to be tested in his preferable profession that he was most skilled at, and were he to score a hit on the woman, it would deal a lot of pain, as the blades were crafted from the teeth of hard-to-kill Dathomirian rancors.

The time came; Chieftain Viscus clasped his hands in the air, indicating that it was their moment to attack.

Three warriors assaulted her at once, though all it took for her to overpower them was step to the side of their blades and assault them until they fell to the ground weakly. Even so, she drew on too much of her strength, leaving her crouched and tired.

Savage seized the moment and ran forward, axe raised and ready to kill. Even so, the advantage was an illusion─in a split second, she twisted around and sent a hard kick into his chest. Even though, he could stand it. As he raised his axe again, he was taken by surprise as an invisible wave of power sent him flying at the far-away audience steps.

"Gah!" he winced, falling against the ground in momentary defeat.

He listened to the wild screams of battle─Feral stood out the most. Savage looked up and found his brother and the Nightsister sparring with weapons. Feral seemed to have an advantage with the weight of his weapons, but that wasn't carrying his muscle. He ended up weakened and on the ground like the others. She quickly turned and impaled another barbaric warrior. The impact was so sudden that his daggers flipped out of his hands and into hers.

Savage narrowed his eyes as he sprinted towards her with intense concentration. She sent the daggers flying at him, but he managed to find his acrobatic potential before they hit him. He jumped more than high enough over the laser-fast daggers and flipped in mid-air, landing on his feet.

As he continued, he grew desperate as Feral scored two hits on the woman's chest, causing her great anger. He was smacked as hard as the short, trial-excluded warrior was. Savage could feel the aura that radiated from the woman fuel a kind of passion─a passion to refuse to give up, and to maintain power and authority. A sleeping rage wanted to explode on something or someone, and Savage  
didn't think it was him or any of the other Nightbrothers. There was a bigger purpose for this trial of inevitable doom. However, he believed he wouldn't live to see it.

One of the remaining combatants threw a sharp-edged staff at the Nightsister. That proved to be a mistake─a mistake he wouldn't live to regret.

As soon as the staff-wielder fell lifelessly with the bloodied weapon penetrating his body, Feral was still lying at the boots of the Dathomirian woman, looking to his brother worriedly.

"Feral!" Savage called out, hoping he could save his brother before he faced the most severe penalty for failure.

Savage actually wasn't engaged. Feral was flung in mid-air by the mystical combatant's leg and ended up lying on the hard ground again. To Savage's relief, they weren't near the Dathomirian witch.

Savage, too, refused to engage the enemy. He tossed his axe aside selflessly and came to his brother immediately, kneeling next to him.

"Brother, get up!" he persisted.

"The witch," Feral rasped. "Where is she?"

Savage looked back at her location and didn't see anything there except the unconscious bodies and corpses of Nightbrothers. But then . . . something from behind called to him. Something from the shadows.

He turned around again and then saw the Nightsister's light-blue eyes for the second time.

She scowled. "Pathetic."

With that, Savage attempted to attack, but was punched harder than anyone else. He crumbled to the ground in humiliating defeat.

"Where are the warriors I came for!?" she shouted to the Chieftain. She raised her arms mockingly. "Is this _all_ the power these men possess?"

Savage didn't need to open his eyes to know that the woman was pointing at him specifically, using him as the worst example.

**IN THE SACRED RUINS OF DATHOMIR, THE ONLY LIGHT IN THE **night-shadowed area were the lit lamps that were built with the structure millennia ago. The independently lethal trainer stood on a highlighted peak, utilizing a different kind of weapon─the grip possessed a rope that connected it to the blade of a deadly, clearly used axe.

"In order to fight against the Force," she said, "you must see what cannot be seen."

At that instruction, the Chieftain clasped his hands once again, and the lights faded at his silent whim. The traditionally painted axe blade in the Nightsister's grasp reflected the red night sky and its gleaming, unique stars. Savage would rely on that reflection to spot her in the darkness.

"Only four of you remain," she pointed out as a shooting star zoomed overhead in the dark-red sky. "Who will be the first to fall?"

She leaped down and as she faded into the shadows, the axe blade screeched like an injured creature on the verge of insanity.

The unified warriors briefly surveyed the area, and then formed a back-to-back circle, weapons drawn. As gothic laughter emerged out of nowhere, Savage and another Nightbrother shared an uncomfortable look.

"Whoa!" yelled the Nightbrother next to Savage, then collapsing.

His eyes widened as he kneeled and felt him for any more life signs. Of course, however, he was dead. He was cut deeply. It was only a matter of time before the rest of them were finished off.

"Not fast enough," echoed the lady's voice, followed by more laughter.

Opress immediately stood up, clenching his axe cautiously as he surveyed once again, but it didn't take too long before the next Nightbrother fell.

Now it was just Feral and Savage, who was prepared to give his life for Feral's survival.

They glanced at each other, then shifted positions. The hisses of the axe screeched louder and louder. Savage could feel it coming─he _knew._ He reached out with his perceptions and attempted to center himself.

Without thinking, he grabbed Feral and they both fell to the ground. Ready for whatever was about to happen, Savage rolled into a crouched position with his axe drawn specifically to the air. He could see the shadow-killer that he always had to beware of.

She stood still, attempting to blend in with the shadows once again. Still, she didn't have Savage fooled for a second.

"Show yourself," he demanded fiercely.

She stepped forward without opposition, keeping her intrigued eyes on the Nightbrother.

"Good," she suddenly said.

Savage hadn't expected a compliment from _her,_ of all people.

"Let the third and final trial begin!" Viscus announced, clasping his hands.

Savage and Feral stood up, throwing their weapons aside. The lights lit once again and the ground under the Dathomirian woman seemed to shake. Then, an individual stone platform raised underneath her, and around her. They all moved in an up-and-down pattern.

Opress now understood. This was a maze. Another amplifier of false anticipation. A place to fear for your life just because you took off on the wrong section.

"There are only two of us left, brother," came Feral's quiet voice. "But only one of us will survive."

"No," he replied. "Not if I can help it."

They both endured her hateful glare. The fire in her eyes grew brighter as other stone platforms ascended higher. Savage released his fear and focused. He would let his instincts guide him.

"Go!" he commanded.

Feral followed Savage's lead. They ran through a diagonal path and then stopped in the sudden wake of the Nightsister. Savage eyed her and shook his head defiantly, then took off running once again, as fast as he could. After passing three stones, Feral and Savage leaped onto a rising platform and called upon their ability to ascend as well.

They jumped as far and high as a Wookiee to another platform. Savage didn't dare look back. He swore he wouldn't die today, and vowed to keep his promise─to keep Feral alive.

"Savage!" his brother suddenly screamed from far away.

Opress stopped in his tracks and searched for Feral behind him, but he simply wasn't able to be spotted. Now he had reason to fear─he had overestimated his formerly sheltered brother's abilities. Now _his_ life was at stake.

Gritting his teeth, he retraced his steps and jumped back to the path from which he came. He stopped on the second stone he had jumped on and saw Feral bracing himself against the wall fearlessly, misguided and afraid. But then . . .

The Nightsister entered the scene, falling from mid-air and appearing right behind an unsuspecting Nightbrother. As soon as he turned his head, she began to assault him relentlessly, taking no damage and only giving it.

Suddenly, she extended her arms and an invisible force threw him against another stone, leaving him weak and tired. She cuffed her hand and tightened her hold on the air, somehow strangling him from a distance.

Savage knew he was no match for the Nightsister's magic, but he still wasn't afraid, and he wasn't going to give up now. Leaping down from mid-air as well, he landed next to the Nightsister, grabbed her arm and threw her against a stone as well.

She yelped in pain and crouched, staring at Savage in shock.

Opress stood in front of Feral and pointed at her angrily. "As long as I live, you will _not _harm him!"

The three paused for a moment. As Feral spectated, Savage and the Nightsister engaged.

He sent a flurry of blows in the direction of her face, but she managed to maneuver out of the way and attack at the same time. He stood a punch to the face and stared at her, briefly reevaluating. Then, he proceeded to block another attack and shoved his fist into her chest, sending her backward painfully.

He stood stiffly and guarded himself with his strong left arm. "Please, spare him. Take me."

They paused once again, and she eyed the exhausted Nightbrother disgustedly. "Leave us."

Feral got up struggling, but he refused to put his brother's sacrifice in vain. The two brothers exchanged a look of fear for one another, and then as Feral left, the battle resumed.

Savage rushed forward, this time both kicking and punching. However, a chop was landed on his shoulder, right next to his neck. He bellowed out his pain and engaged once again. He began to get backed up by her speedy, destructive combat moves. She attempted to grab his throat, but she batted her arms out of the way and grabbed her fast leg, taking a step forward and shoving her to the ground.

He jumped upward with a cry of rage and nearly smashed her face in as he landed, leaving a crack in the ground. She quickly kicked him away and initiated her overwhelming tactic once again. He managed to grab her, but failed to send her into a stone. They changed positions and his face was smacked hard.

He held up his shaking fist in the name of what Nightbrothers stood for, screamed, and attempted to pound her again. The same kind of cracks formed on the stone four times.

Out of a thousand legs and warped animations sended at him, he only landed two punches on her; one on her chest, one on the side of her face. And that was all it took to make her truly raged.

She put all of her strength into a direct shove that sent him flying on top of another ascending stone. As she leaped up again, full of energy, Savage braced himself for the next set of strikes.

Once again he was sent on top of another stone. As she landed in front of him, they began to fight again. As he took a breath, he remembered that falling off the stone would mean death for either one of them.

_It's her or me._

He managed to punch her face again, but he only knew that the pain fueled her power. After one last final flurry, she spun in mid-air and sent her blurred boot into _his_ face.

He began to lose his conciousness as the dizzyness began to kick in. He gave up and fell to the stone. To his surprise, he didn't fall off the stone─he lied right on the edge of it.

The battle was over. His hyperconscious awareness came back as the woman pressed her boot on his throat. Savage unsuccessfully attempted to push it off, hearing the cracks. His vision began to distort.

He gasped desperately, staring into her eyes. "My life is yours."

"Yes, it is." She cracked her knuckles as she narrowed her eyes on him.


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

_Chains... chains are the easy part. It's what goes on in _here

_that's _hard.

_~The Son, on the philosophy of internal affairs with_

_corruption._

**DATHOMIR**

**SAVAGE OPRESS WAS TAKEN TO THE NIGHTSISTER TEMPLE, ABLE TO **say his goodbyes to people he cared about before leaving, knowing fully well that he'd likely never see them again. He and Feral had smiled sadly at each other at the time, and Chieftain Viscus had honored him. He carried that with him even as he stood at the attention of the still unknown woman and Mother Talzin.

"He has surrendered his life to me," the Nightsister informed Talzin, pleased at her success.

The old, pale-black sinister woman stared at Savage with her mystical eyes. She, too, had tattoos. The rumors of who she was and what she did had been so mythical at the time Savage had been taught about her, but now seeing her in person, he learned that reality was only a nightmare, and most literally. Her red-orange hair had grown long enough for an entire strand to keep an amulet hung on her forehead.

She placed her hand on Savage's left breast, and she was intrigued as well. Opress didn't like what was happening─having to stand still while witches became pleased inspecting his body.

"This one is _strong,_" she said. She ran her long fingernail bitterly across his chest to his cheek as she circled him. His hatred for Talzin caused him to shake her hand off immediately. Eventually she was in front of him again, grasping her hands in an impressed, yet teasing matter. "And such _hate._ The sheer power of it . . ."

Savage knew there was something different about him. Something had guided him here, to where and who he was now. Perhaps it was something aspiring from the perceptions he had developed during his trials.

"A tremendous gift from the galaxy, Mother," the trial-hostess agreed. "He will serve us well."

He took a small step back and watched Talzin's dangerous finger move slowly toward his forehead. As soon as the two surfaces connected, Opress fell into a trance. He couldn't feel, he couldn't see. He tried his hardest to anticipate.

"_You have a new purpose . . ."_

_ A new sense of principles and loyalty was brought about._

"_You are a new being . . ."_

_ The past was consumed; the future became expanded._

"_You have been reborn . . ."_

_ The power found its potential. It couldn't be stopped._

The bitter, cold touch weathered the mind until he became awake again. As he opened his eyes, he took a simple breath─and out came the predatory, monstrous hiss of an animal. He looked around himself and saw a new vessel of muscularity─and it was _his._ He wasn't the same. Something infiltrated him and gave rise to what he was now.

As he rested on a carved table, Nightsisters─including Mother Talzin and her minion sent to acquire him─all stared at him in admiration of his fully reached potential. He was no longer a mere Nightbrother doing his best to survive in the galaxy.

Now, he was worth more.

He stared at the Nightsister who had humiliated him several times. Her pale-blue eyes peered into his soul, searching for another way to use him. But he wasn't a tool anymore.

He reached out and grabbed her neck, ready to crush her until _her_ usefulness was eradicated. She grabbed his wrist, but that wasn't enough to save her.

_Now you understand how I feel._

He tightened his grip.

"Let me go!" she hissed between gags and gasps.

"Calmly, Sister," Mother Talzin advised.

Savage didn't dare turn his attention away from his prey. She made a mistake by bringing him here; a mistake _she_ wouldn't live to regret.

"Let . . ." She was still struggling to force the words out of her slowly decimating lungs. "Let . . . me . . . _go._"

He hesitated, and knew that his life would be over much sooner than hers if he didn't do as she commanded. He regretfully let go, and stood up. He looked down on her as he waited for the next turn of events.

"Bring in the prisoner," she ordered as she turned around. She then turned back to Savage. "Now . . . for the final test."

Two other Nightsisters walked in gracefully─dragging Feral, of all people, by both of his arms. They dropped him in front of Savage disgustedly and spectated along with everyone else.

"Savage . . .?" came Feral's surprise. He couldn't believe what Savage became as much as he himself couldn't.

"Kill him."

There was something that held him back. Despite how menacing he now was, how forgotten his old self used to be, something made him hesitate, even if he only existed to serve now.

"Savage, you know me. I'm your kin. Do not do this!"

Still did he remain quiet, and as still as the momuments in the Dathomirian ruins. Once again was he smacked across the face by _her._

"I said _kill him._"

Savage only acknowledged her command by taking action, raising his left arm to his brother.

"No!"

He ignored Feral's pleading and single-handedly lifted him off the ground by his throat.

"Brother─brother, please!"

Feral began to kick for empty purchase, beginning to gasp for every last bit of air he could suck in.

"You . . . _beg?_" Savage asked, now ashamed of being the brother of someone who couldn't die like any strong man. "Weakling!"

"Savage!" he screamed.

His last sounds faded away in a writhing attempt to scream for help hopelessly. Savage stared into his eyes as he dropped him without remorse.

_She_ stepped in front of Feral's corpse. By now especially did Opress wish he knew her name.

"Good . . . very good." She grinned at him for reaching a degree of immersion and producing a result. "You will learn to draw strength from your emotions. _Hate_ will feed you. Never sympathize with the enemy. Not even for a moment."

He accepted her words as guidance. "Yes, Sister."

A green, energetic nova came to life on the ground, and an extending axe emerged from the green portal, covered in mist.

"For you, an enchanted blade," said Talzin. "Blessed with our most potent magicks."

"I think it's time we introduced the apprentice to his new Master. Wouldn't you agree?" asked the _still _unknown lady.

Talzin nodded her head in Savage's direction, and he swiped the axe into his grasp.


	3. Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3

_There is no justice. There is only revenge._

_~Vitiate, first Emperor of the Sith_

**SERENNO**

**SAVAGE OPRESS HAD NEVER SEEN MORE THROUGH ARTIFICIALITY**in his life. He had followed Mother Talzin on her command aboard a pirate freighter stolen by the Nightsisters as far as he knew. During his journey to a rich, comfortable planet named Serenno with a more modernized atmosphere than most other planets, he had seen the stars up close for once. He now understood that there was more to life than Dathomir and poor nourishment. However, just because he was to meet a new Master didn't imply that he'd have any different a fate than that of a slave's.

_Different Master, same fate._

Even now did he still live this life.

He waited in the hallway that topped the landing ramp as instructed by Talzin, leening on the red-lit durasteel wall with his axe gripped tightly. The Mother's escorts were her two most trusted Nightsisters, which to his surprise didn't include Ventress.

"Sister," came the even, intelligent voice of the one Count ruling this building known as Dooku, in addressment to Mother Talzin's arrival.

"Count Dooku," she replied with an eager tone. "May I present . . ."

He stood up at their attention.

"Savage Opress."

As she gestured to him, he took four heavy steps forward, giving the Count a moment to pass judgment over him before he continued nearer. Making the best impression, he walked until he was five meters away from Dooku and stared down into his eyes as he let the giant axe's tip rest on the ground, leaving an irrepairable but admired dent in the ground.

Dooku watched him with a look of certain consideration. He, too was unable to be determined of his ways of calculcation. He had an appearance of modesty and wisdom. He had hawklike eyes and white hair and a whtie beard to frame most of his head. "He certainly is a slight to behold," he commented, grinning with pleasure.

"He fears the Sister's kind, my Lord," Mother Talzin informed him. "He shall serve you well."

"Yes, he shall."

He knelt before the Count, knowing Talzin kept her careful eyes on him. He did his best to shadow his knelt, already scheme-like face.

**OPRESS FOLLOWED DOOKU INSIDE HIS LUXURIOUS HOME, STOPPING **in front of his desk as his unintimidated Master circled it before coming to a halt on the opposite side. Savage noticed the white-and-black curved hilt dangling from his brown belt, wondering what it was. Perhaps a weapon, for all he could've guessed.

As Dooku prepared to speak, he folded his arms behind his back properly and listened completely.

"Mother Talzin speaks very highly of your skills. Still, I require proof of your abilities as a warrior."

The yellow-and-black Zabrak narrowed his eyes, wondering what the Count had planned. He bent down ever so slightly to push a button on the console dwelling on his desk. In a moment, a blue hologrammic display of a garden-surrounded Temple that looked much like the surroundings of Serenno appeared before them.

"The Jedi are in control of a vital outpost on the jungle planet of Devaron. A temple."

"A _temple?_" he asked, seeing no importance in that mere relic.

"Do not be fooled, Savage. The Temple of Eedit serves only as a front for the military operations of the Republic. It is essential that we seize the temple, if the Separatists ever hope to take control of that corner of the galaxy."

Savage blinked his eyes as he recalled the enemy he was going to face; as far as he knew in his few studies the Count allowed him to see, the Jedi were powerful wielders of another kind of magic called the Force, commanded by both them and Dooku. The religion─the code─they followed was one of their biggest weaknesses that would be exploited in only a matter of time. Aside from the Jedi, they commanded a modern military known as the Clone Army, developed on Kamino under the doner known as Jango Fett.

"You shall go to Devaron, and take what is rightfully _ours._"

"Yes, my Lord," he deeply purred in obedient response, lifting his head up and leaving to return to his new freighter.

**THE COUNT'S WORDS WERE SUPPOSED TO BE TAKEN AS WISDOM AS **much as Asajj's. He remembered that as he landed in front of the battlefield of the Temple of Eedit. A white road parted the grasses, filled with Separatist droid units known as Battle Droids or Super Battle Droids.

It was time Savage made a difference with the lazy tactic of slow overwhelming forces. He leapt down from his new freighter with his axe held in front of him, charging through the lines of droids insignificant next to his sheer determination and power.

As he raced, he battered one Super Battle Droid in his way with his bare fist; the smaller counterpart that appeared in front of him he hammered out of his way.

He was already ahead of the droid forces, and as he felt his main target nearby, an unexpected bolt of blue plasma struck him in the chest. He stumbled, but didn't stop. He stared hatefully at the surprised clone trooper who targeted him.

He thrashed three out of the way with painful slams and jabs, fragmented pieces of armor flying off of the road in his wake.

"Get him!" a Captain signified by a kilt ordered his squad.

They all took their positions, but didn't have nearly enough time to fire as they were all ragdolled one by one. Only a thermal detonator was thrown, but it made its way past him and pulvarized all of his unrequired reinforcements.

Savage approached the entrance where a Roonan male Jedi Knight known as Halsey and his Twi'lek male apprentice named Knox made their last stand, deflecting the blur of bolts from six battle droids back where they came, saving Savage the trouble of having to deal with them himself.

"Jedi," he said, smiling with greed at the chance to finally kill a traditional enemy of his Master to become worthy of what he had, and in the end, much more.

The Jedi Knight was the first to flip forward quickly, standing not too far away from Opress as he rabidly twirled his lightsaber into a readying stance.

"Master?" his small apprentice asked in hesitation.

"Stay back!" the Master ordered.

Halsey ran forward, weapon raised. Instantly, Savage crouched and moved to the left, avoiding the deadly green lightsaber blade and in another second jumped slightly to avoid the whirling blade to his knees. He prepared for the next strike─a lightning-fast spin that sent the swarming blade at his horn. In extreme caution and irritation of having to defend his horns─the most sensitive parts of his body─against his opponent, he glared at the Jedi's blue-gray eyes as he grasped his arm, consuming, cracking and pinching his wrist until the lightsaber fell.

As the Jedi groaned in pain, Savage whipped out his axe in an attempt to impale him preferably, but he somehow maneuvered out of the way and began barraging the Nightbrother with several heavy-weighted punches and agitating, hard-to-dodge flipkicks aimed for his face. After two more aerial hand-to-hand assaults, Savage clubbed his face with the pommel of his axe, his torso, and then swept him off of his feet. As the pathetic Jedi squirmed, Savage spat on him and rammed his soon bloody axe into his chest.

"No!" Knox yelled in despair, eyes widened with as much comtempt as Savage had, ready to forget about the Code if that was what it meant to kill the uncomparable warrior.

As Savage finished swirling within the dead Jedi's body, he lifted his blade up and watched the young Jedi. He calculated that the Jedi Knox would break into a foolhardy attempt to bring him down that would leave him too exposed.

He was right.

As the young Jedi charged forward with a clumbsy stance─two pointed fingers extended on an arm that went further than his own lightsaber blade─Savage just dropped his spear, grabbed the arm, and spun once, letting go as soon as the young boy was aimed at the door that he and Halsey had defended.

Savage walked up the stairs with his spear in his hand once again, glancing at the now dead Jedi with no pity before reaching for his communicator. In a moment, Dooku appeared once again in his miniature hologrammic form. It didn't make that much of a difference to Savage─he was already taller than most beings in the galaxy, anyway.

"My Lord."

"Is it finished?" Dooku asked out of an impatience with expectation that the Nightbrother had just arrived.

"Yes. The Temple has been taken," he said.

Dooku smiled the same way Savage had when approaching the Jedi, proud that even _his_ expectations were exceeded. "And the Jedi?"

"Dead."

His Master raised his eyebrow as he slightly nodded his head. "Very impressive, Savage. Return to Serenno, immediately."

Savage bowed his head in return. "Very well, my Lord." He picked up the Lightsabers of the fallen Jedi before he left.

**UPON GIVING THE LIGHTSABERS TO DOOKU, THEY WERE **telekinetically transported to the insides of his robes and the warrior was commended on his fast, earned victory.

They walked side-by-side, mirroring their movements as they walked forth, arms crossed behind their backs.

"You have done well, Savage," the Count expressed once again. "I'll have much use for you."

Savage paused at the steps of the desk as Dooku continued. "Thank you, my Lord."

"We will do great things together. I shall teach you the ways of the dark side. Soon, your powers will rival that of the great Sith Lord, Darth Maul," Dooku declared.

Opress stood still for a moment, pondering why that sentence had such a meaning to him.

Dooku turned around and tightened his fist as a symbol. "We will be even more powerful than Lord Sidious."

It was the first time Savage had heard that name. That sentence, too, had great meaning as well. Perhaps _Sidious_ would play a part in his future. Maul's involvement wasn't guaranteed, seeing as far as Savage knew, he was dead. But then again, that fact brought more questions to mind that Opress didn't have time for.

"We shall rule the galaxy together . . . my _apprentice._"

"I am your servant, Master."


	4. Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4

_True power can come only to those who embrace the_

_transformation._

_~Darth Revan's teachings_

**SERENNO**

**ONCE AGAIN HAD SAVAGE BEEN CALLED TO DOOKU'S SERVICE. HE **had barely slept the night before, remembering the feeling of killing his first two Jedi and lusting for it once again. More and more did the past disappear─his only thoughts were of his potential and of his future now.

He approached his barely visible Master, spotted only by his white beard in the reflective dark chamber, lit only by the red-white patterns on the ground.

"My Lord, how can I serve you?" he inquired, hoping for another chance to impress him.

Without turning, the Count made a gesture and at his whim, the white lights flickered on. While his Master remained calm, Savage rubbed his eyes while readjusting to the room.

"I have a test for you," Dooku then said, turning to him. He pointed to a nearby table, metallic and silver. "Come. Rest."

_There's more to this than resting._

As Dooku's silent loyalist, he did as he commanded. He fastened himself onto the metallic table with the odd-warped mechanizations of the metallic belt.

"Keep still," his Master ordered.

Savage did as he instructed, watching as his wrists were harnessed by built-in cuffs. If this was torture, he assured himself that it couldn't have been worse than Dathomir. Still, his naivetè got the better of him.

"My Lord, what exactly are we doing . . .?"

Dooku glanced at him confidently. "I am training you."

_Training?_

"How is this anything like─"

His words were suddenly cut off as the cold metallic table rose into an upward position. Suspended against his will, Savage found himself already frustrated with more unending questions in his mind. But then a TD-unit droid─as deadly as the MagnaGuards crafted by the Holowan Mechanicals─entered the room, standing at Dooku's side.

"Tee-dee-fifty-four, you may begin the procedure," Dooku said.

"Yes, Master," the droid droned, its photoreceptors glowing red as they were fixed on Opress.

As it advanced towards the table, Savage felt an immensely painful shock as a pincer poked his palm. He could barely see the red electricity as he screamed past the blur in his eyes.

Now he had an unstoppable persistence to make short work of this droid, which became as hated by Savage as the Jedi. The meditation on the recent turn of events was disturbed─all for torture.

"The obviousness of your anger is your weakness, Savage," Dooku told him. "Peace is a lie, there is only passion."

With each next recitement came another shock.

"Through passion, strength."

Savage reduced the pain by an estimated twenty-five percent, doing his best to bear the worst.

"Through strength, power. Through power, victory. Through victory, our chains are broken."

On the last recitement, the voltage was clearly set to the highest level. Savage yelled through his bared teeth. The unremovable rash of the cold, the burning overkill of the flame─as the pain became more interpretive, they began to turn into emotions. Savage's eyed blazed a menacing red, incensed at the eloquent smirk on Dooku's teasing face.

As the pain sequence became more repetetive, Savage harnessed his passion into pushing for the absorbment of the energies. He felt the building power within him.

In a few moments, his burning rage exploded out into reality. He managed to rip his arms free, cross them in front of him as all of his strength gathered, and repulsed all of his surroundings.

The table slammed against the wall, bent at an odd angle as it slumped onto the ground. The droid was launched headfirst at the feet of Dooku, lying in a burning heap.

As he breathed rapidly and stared at the ground, refusing to bend down, Dooku clapped his hands as the smoke from the electrons wore off.

"Well done, Savage," he commended his apprentice.

Opress didn't respond─his vocal cords were worn and his lungs were full of the consuming power within his body.

"You have learned the Sith Code. Commit it to who you are, and all of your struck-down enemies won't even be a footnote as your ascension begins."

"But─" he managed, "─the obviousness of my hatred is a weakness."

"Once you have attained full mastery of the dark side, underestimation of your exposed hatred will be the weakness of the Jedi. As we know, all of them are willfully ignorant of the dark side."

Savage understood the point of this test now. The droid was nothing next to his power or his nature─and through its own underestimation, it brought about its own destruction.

"I think this knowledge will come in handy on your next assignment. Meet me at the landing platform."

He bowed his head and rasped, "Yes, my Master."

**SAVAGE HAD BEEN WATCHING THE SWAYING OF NEARBY TREES****AS **tall as Dooku's home and as green as the grasses of Devaron when Dooku had finally came to him at his freighter.

"Savage Opress," he said, "I have a mission for you on Affa. Your instructions are on this datadisc."

"I kill for you . . . again," he perceived in satisfaction.

"Yes, of course, you shall kill. You may take my ship. Bring it back in one peace."

He took the datadisc and replied, "Yes, Master."

**AFFA WAS LITTLE MORE THAN A BASIC BEGINNING FOR PLANETS **like Taris, which had been destroyed long ago. How the city hadn't been advanced so often even though it was a manufacturing plant, Savage had no idea. But, he was only entering the territory of a Hutt. Perceptions could only take a Nightbrother from Dathomir so far.

As the freighter became closer to the large hangar doors, the helmsman called him.

"Unidentified soler sailer, bring your vessel to a halt. This is the helmsman under the command of Noggox the Hutt. I'm going to need your authorization code or you _will_ be boarded. You have thirty seconds."

Savage had nothing to worry about─he had precisely memorized every detail of the holodisc, as intended by Dooku. "Authorization: Mell-oh-seven."

"Standby." After a pause, the helmsman responded, "Your code checks out. You are cleared for docking."

He cocked his tongue as the helmsman hung up, and smoothly docked in the hangar. It wasn't long before it was in the hangar. As soon as he exited the ship, he witnessed the many minions of Nox carrying crates of ore and other items of the sort. They were supervised by an armored Rodian, a cloaked Ithorian and a robed Cathar.

Savage walked near them, clutching his axe and flashing them murderous looks, causing quick conversing and inquiries to one another. After a few decisions, they decided to approach him.

"Big guy," came the vocal voice of the Rodian. "You got a problem?"

"Take me to Noggox. _Now,_" he demanded, now holding his axe in both hands.

As he nearly took a step forward, the three weaklings were suddenly accompanied by blaster-wielding guards and remote-controlled probes, getting a glimpse of Savage from each view.

"Is this man giving you trouble, sir?" the guard asked, weapon pointed at Savage cautiously as he asked.

Opress narrowed his eyes on the Rodian particularly. Judging by how sketchy his race was, he was certain he could scare him into carrying out his bidding.

"N─no, sir. We were just escorting him to Noggox's hold."

"I'm still going to have to assist you on that one." The irritating guard turned to Savage once again. "I'm going to need you to give me all your weapons."

Reluctantly, Savage submitted his axe to the guard and began to become annoyed by the stalking of the probe droids. The Rodian took the axe into his custody and waved him on, along with the guards, the probe droids and his comrades. As soon as they approached the door of Noggox's hold, they were all suddenly stopped.

"What are you all doing!?" Savage inquired impulsively, running out of patience.

Just for another degree of nerve-striking hostility, he was cuffed the same way he had been at Serenno. He couldn't wait to rid himself of this burden.

"Pipe down," the Rodian insisted. "Noggox is running out of patience, too, and your rant isn't going to get you, nor him anywhere."

He refused to acknowledge the insignificant being. He just continued through the door until he saw Noggox─a disgusting orange Hutt with purple, scaled arms. He had the eyes of a snake.

"O, Mighty Noggox! We caught this guy sulking around behind the main hangar . . ." the Rodian said, standing on a small, metallic uplifted floor next to Noggox's own. He then displayed the axe. "And he was carrying this weapon. He didn't put up a fight."

Noggox looked up from his gleaming green console, immediately intrigued by what he saw. "Nice axe. What brings you to the planet Affa, stranger?"

"You are in danger. A Jedi approaches . . ." Savage said gravely.

"_Bwah-haw-haw!_" he burst, his sonic laughter booming all over the room. "Oh my, that _is_ a gut buster. I appreciate the warning, friend. But as you can see, I'm in little danger. My fortress's defenses are state of the art. My guards are as loyal as they are deadly. You were wise to surrender."

Now he understood furthermore what the test meant. The emotions of anger and hatred were what amplified the dark side and convinced it to free him from captivity, even against the worst of circumstances. This, however, was fairly easier. They had already done enough to anger him.

"As for the Jedi," Noggox continued, "it may surprise you to know I'm _expecting_ his arrival within the hour. After all . . . I _invited_ him!" Two blue-black freighters appeared in a green holoprojection, and Savage observed it curiously. "Two of my freighters, carrying parts for Republic vessels to fondor shipyards, were recently raided by space pirates.

"The Jedi claims these pirates are in league with the Confederacy of Independent Systems. He has offered to escort my other freighters to Fondor. Personally, I hope the Jedi, the pirates, _and_ the Confederacy slaughter each other!

"I'm curious . . . how did you learn of the Jedi traveling to Affa?"

"Count Dooku," he answered.

"Dooku?" Noggox repeated, eyes widened, petrified with fear.

_Foolish, stupid, arrogant Hutt._

"You are in danger . . . because Dooku _knows_ you invited the Jedi," he scowled.

He ripped free of his cuffs with another repulse, giving plenty of ground between him and his now dazed enemies.

"What th─" the Rodian staggered, axe flying from his hand and into Savage's.

As everyone charged in his position, Savage crumbled a translator droid, the Rodian, and the probes all in one swipe.

"Stop him!" yelled Noggox.

They circled around him, making the mistake of being caught in his solid black avalanche of destruction. As soon as they were all dead, he jumped on top of Noggox's console and stared into his eyes, axe shining as though gleaming afar from a black abyss. From Noggox's eyes, a deadly shadow stood before him, directed for domination.

"Stop! I have money! I can─"

Ending his subconscious misery, he slammed his blade into the Hutt's stomach, rejoicing in the mud-like fluids bursting from the lifeless body. Quickly glancing around to see if anyone was still alive─which of course, there weren't─he retreated to his ship quickly, fast enough not to draw any suspicions.

He stood in front of it, pulling out his holocommunicator with a new idea. The signal was sent to Dooku, and back came a response.

"You have completed the assignment?" he asked, the same way he had when Opress's business on Devaron had been concluded.

"Yes, Master."

"Well done, Savage Opress. Return to me at once."

He quickly brought about his idea, hoping to gain the Count's favor. "But . . . the Jedi has not arrived yet. I could─"

"You will leave Affa _now._"

He slightly hesitated, but then nodded his head. "Yes, Master."

Wasting no time, he bent down as he walked through the soler sailer's small-sized hall to the cockpit. As soon as he was flying again, he could see why it was wise to leave─three ships came out of hyperspace and zoomed quickly above the city of Affa.


	5. Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5

_It's all Obi-Wan's fault! He's jealous—he's holding me _back!

_~Former Jedi Padawan Anakin Skywalker_

**SERENNO**

**IT WAS JUST THE TWO OF THEM IN DOOKU'S CHAMBERS, ONCE ** Opress had lately been instructed to study the art of the lightsaber. The lightsaber usage existed in three variations—single bladed, dual bladed, or used as a staff, which Savage preferred. He had been focusing on studying a sacred style taught only by Dooku—Lus-ma, gone to the Sith Empire of old long ago, or so Savage thought at the time. He had also been practicing the fifth form of lightsaber combat—Djem So. It suited his style and position as Dooku's Juggernaut of destruction. So far, he had been pitted against the likes of cyborgs such as IG-MagnaGuards and the reputable cyborg Kaleesh warlord General Grievous, also trained personally by Dooku. However, it wasn't his skill in using a lightsaber that won those spars—it was his command of the Force. He hoped not to disappoint Dooku this time.

Dooku ignited his fancily curve-hilted lightsaber, whipping it before him and indicating Savage to ignite one side of his own.

He clutched the hilt of his lightsaber tight in his hands and one blade ignited with the growl of an animal, its idle hum having a much deeper resonance pitch than his Master's. Being at least three heads taller than him, he watched his unreadable Master cautiously, knowing fully well that his animal ferocity adapted with his physical strength and size was no good against the power of the dark side of the Force and a lightsaber.

They slowly walked circles around the chamber, Savage attempting to be as unreadable as his Master, masking his face only with his determination. Then, hoping to surprise his Master, he raised his saber and brought it down heavily only in a heartbeat, though Dooku casually stepped to the side as though it were nothing to worry about. Savage took two steps to his Master's position and swung again, failing to meet his gain. He used a moment of breathing worth two seconds and then sprang at Count Dooku again one more time without thinking, though he merely tripped and fell at his Master's boots. Now it was he who was being looked down on. He gasped in surprise at how he was continuously eluded.

"You have no technique," came the dreadful words of Dooku.

Staring into his eyes with hatred, Savage yelled angrily and regained his focus, slashing at his opponent's right side while getting up in a quick manner. He then hammered on the Count's blade, though all of his moves were taken too lightly for his taste. But suddenly, Dooku was open. Savage attemped to dice his chest, but the opening was just an illusion.

He stood stiffly in more surprise when his saber tumbled from his grasp in an effortless swipe, and as he turned, ready to at least try bashing his Master with his large fists, he was hung in the air by an invisible hand wrapped around his neck.

"Sloppy," Dooku assessed, dropping Savage headfirst onto the floor.

He refused to give up, forcing himself to his feet. As he lunged forward and attempting to claw the Count with his long, black fingernails, he heard a crick in his neck as the opponent's lightsaber hilt dug into the back of his head, sending him to the ground again.

Turning impulsively, he backed down in shock as both his Master's and his own blade crossed his neck unescapably. He became frightened as the intensity of the variatons of lightsaber hums increased in his ears.

"With the proper training, you could be a powerful warrior," said Dooku. "You have a natural ability, but you must _hone_ it. Are you up to the challenge of putting your hate to better use?"

Savage bowed his head humbly, taking back his lightsaber and crouching before Dooku. "Yes, Master."

**THE TWO WERE NOW OUTSIDE OF DOOKU'S BUILDING, STANDING ON **an entrance sidewalk apart from one another, facing each other. They were surrounded by many large and small pillars on each side of the sidewalk, a pattern having been formed on both even rows.

"You must strengthen your connection with the Force, my apprentice," Dooku said. "Feel its power within you."

Savage wearily nodded his head and watched as Dooku closed both of eyes, bowing to none, then gracefully raising both of his arms. Then, all of the diamond-like pillars rose, small amounts of rubble falling from each of them. Opress watched in amazement as they all spun in mid-air slowly, and just by an easy two-handed gesture. He continued looking from side to side at the pillars until they fell back into place without any disarray, falling with a rhythmic rumble.

Dooku opened his hawk-like eyes and then stared at Savage. "Now, lift them."

As he bowed his head and then lifted it back up, his arm muscles tensed as he spread both of his arms outward, in an attempt to perform the same Telekinetic feature Dooku had displayed. He groaned in frustration.

"Concentrate," Dooku advised softly.

Growling, he lifted his head up as high as he could as though it made a difference in lifting the pillars, and they began to lift not nearly as high as Dooku had the pillars lift. As he continued struggling to breathe through it, as soon as they reached half the mid-air height Dooku had forced them to, he fell to his knees and released his relieving comfort loudly through his voice.

"What you ask is _impossible!_" Savage reluctantly spat.

"_Impossible?_" Dooku mocked, rolling his eyes in disappointment and stepping forward. "The task is only impossible because you have deemed it so," he said in anger, pointing at the tired Zabrak and then turning his back on him. "You must connect with your hatred."

Then, the Count turned and released a barrage of Force lightning on Opress, and Savage bared the steaming-hot energy and shook in a repetetive movement, as though having a seizure. When the pain finally stopped, he sunk deeper into his crouched position. He quietly breathed through his scratchy throat, moving his eyes as Dooku walked behind him.

"Focus on your power, building. Do not think of anyone or anything else."

Feeling the next shock coming, Savage closed his bloodshot eyes before he was blasted with lightning once again. He howled at the top of his lungs, growing tired and angry at the constant put-down treatment and injuries.

Dooku was no longer smiling, but Savage knew he was happy. "That's it," the Count said as he walked around Savage, returning to his original position with his back still turned. "Your anger is your strength."

Opress stood up and rumbled, "I—I _hate_ you!"

"Good."

With a quick spin, Dooku extended his right arm and shocked Savage again, nearly forcing him to his knees. But this time, Opress had enough. Roaring at the top of his lungs, he stood up straightly and raised his arms, partially absorbing Dooku's power and using it to channel his hatred and persistence. Two pillars lifted unusually high, higher than Dooku had made it before.

And with that, Dooku released Savage from the scorching pain, leaving him hunched over and breathing rapidly at what he had just endured.

"How does one defend against such power!?" Savage asked, eyes widened.

"A wise Master does not reveal all his secrets at once," Dooku replied, clearly having gained that knowledge from experience. "In due time, my apprentice."


	6. Chapter 6

CHAPTER 6

_There are no other Sith. There never will be, except for us._

_One Master and one apprentice; one to embody the power,_

_the other to crave it._

_~Darth Bane's philosophy on the Rule of Two_

**SERENNO**

**SAVAGE WAITED AT COUNT DOOKU'S SHIP ONCE AGAIN, AS **ordered. He was still reflecting over the recent turn of events, and couldn't tell whether or not Dooku was pleased with him. He'd just decided to go along with wherever his appointed tasks carried him if it kept him alive.

Then the Count came.

"You have completed the first stages of your training," Dooku said reassuringly. "I am sending you on an assignment to Toydaria."

As far Savage knew from his studies of other worlds, Toydaria had been secure of any races aside from their own, making exceptions for those who had a planned meeting of urgency. Clearly, Savage had no expertise in negotiating, so it was another hit-and-run assignment.

"You will bring me King Katuunko."

_And kill._

"_Alive,_" Dooku clarified. "_Kill_ all who might interfere."

For a moment Opress stood in fear, but then he pushed concerns aside and put one balled hand behind his back, bowing before his Master. "Yes, my Master. It will be done."

As he returned to Dooku's soler sailer, he could feel two things hanging in the air—pleasure and betrayal, more feelings to endure when walking the path of a Sith.

**SAVAGE WAS ADJUSTING THE GAUNTLETS ON HIS WRISTS WHEN HE **looked up from the console and glared with excitement as a noble tower came into view from the cockpit's window. Toydaria at night was shaded with dark green fog just about everywhere, save for the tower he was approaching.

In an estimated two minutes, the soler sailer landed softly on the tower's platform, and Savage Opress quickly rushed to the landing ramp, and using the senses that the Force provided him, he could hear the flapping of wings and the conversations vocalized by accents that crossed between that of a human's and an alien's. He already knew how the drill went—he would be _greeted_ by the King's guards and sent back to wherever he came from.

But it wasn't going to be that way this time.

He closed his eyes as the landing ramp shifted open, and out swam the artificial air from the ship's interior, into the air outside. Taking two steps forward to the three guards that had been waiting him, he bared his teeth and ignited his lightsaber in one movement, then hissed and cut two down in front of the remaining resistance. As the Toydarian flexed to fire his blaster, Opress didn't hesitate in closing his right fist, quickly and painfully suffocating the King's loyalist. And with that, he swung his right arm and slammed him from afar onto the tower's front door.

Trotting soundlessly and taking a step over the corpse that lied before his true objective, he closed his eyes again and focused his senses, patting the door softly for any weakness. Then, when he discovered one, he plunged his blood-red lightsaber blade into the area, and began to wrench it into a perfect hole for him to move through.

Then there had to be _another_ door. Sensing warning within the other side of the door, he attempted to cut it open again but to his surprise, it retaliated. It _had_ to be made of cortosis or some other matèriel. He _had_ to finish this mission before Katuunko got away.

Whipping his lightsaber backward twice, he slammed one blade into the door and held an explosion of kinetic energy right behind it. In result, it blew open into a bunch of fragments as though a detonator had been set off. Unsurpisingly, two guards died in the chaos. In Savage's wake, a cloud of mist filled the hall, and it became painted with red as he rushed through it. Then he looked up and saw Katuunko staring at him with shock from a chair on an automatically elevated platform.

As he charged forward, the four remaining guards engaged him. He spun while twirling his lightsaber and beheaded two. The next two he kicked against the wall, then smashed together and telekinetically impaled with his lightsaber.

As they all lay limp on the ground, he looked up at Katuunko again, revealing murderous intent through the golden eye. Then he rose on one of the elevated platforms, and stood meters away from the King. Foolishly, he drew a sword anyway and pointed it at Savage in challenge.

"I will _not_ be intimidated," he said defiantly.

After a brief pause, Savage dashed forward to the King's platform and swung, but missed as Katuunko had backed up to the wall. Instead, he had punched his chair off. Whipping his lightsaber, he staggered Katuunko as half of his sword fell off, falling down with the chair and clattering against the bottom of the platforms

The Toydarian King hesitated and then, as his last attempt, he flapped his wings and attempted to escape. But he was easily caught by the ankle and thrown against the wall, rendered unconscious.

Yanking him upward, Savage held the physically weak being on his right shoulder, holding his lightsaber in his left hand. As he leaped back to the platform he had risen from, out from the mist he left in the doorway came two Jedi—one wearing light-brown robes, with Auburn hair and a beard. The other was younger, who he recognized instantly—Anakin Skywalker, presumed Chosen One of the Jedi Order. He had dark long hair and a scar of experience down his right eye.

Savage wasn't as greedy with anticipation as he was during his time at the Temple of Eedit, but rather frustrated. He huffed as the two Jedi rose on two other platforms, blue lightsabers ignited.

As the bearded Jedi Master leaped at him and swung with speedy and deadly Ataru moves, Savage responded with a tight defense as best he could, gripping his staff with his left hand tightly. Then, as he swung at the Jedi's knees, he backflipped, and Jedi General Skywalker summoned the Force to throw the King's platform at Savage's, causing unbalance and reawakening the Toydarian.

As Opress was caught offguard, the Toydarian wriggled out of his grasp, and he held his hand out, ready to drag it back, but the two Jedi suddenly leaped on top of Savage and tackled the Sith warrior. Struggling with his restrained back, he reached out with his arm again and began to Force choke the Toydarian from long range violently. Then he paused to send two hard punches into the faces of the Jedi defenders. As they yelped out in pain and nearly fell off, they held on again, and Savage hatefully closed his fist. The next thing he saw was the Toydarian King falling lifelessly from mid-air like a light-weight bug.

Letting his hate channel his command of the dark side of the Force, he rose effortlessly and extended his arms, repulsing the two Jedi away. They both fell over the left platform, and Savage jumped onto it to find General Skywalker hanging on to it while his assistant clung to his leg. Mentally spitting on the Jedi's weakness, he stuck his hard heel onto Skywalker's hand until it slipped and the two Jedi collided on the floor together. Then, he rammed his blade into the platform, and it sped down with super speed, weightless but full of momentum.

As soon as he crushed the two weaklings, he ran as fast as possible before more came and dragged the fallen Toydarian by his foot again. Exiting the tower through the hall, Katuunko's head bumped on a ridge in the floor as they continued outside at a fast pace. Finally, they reached their ship.

Opress threw the King's corpse inside of the soler sailer's interior and before he entered as well, he turned to find a Republic ambasssador ship. Clenching his fist to his forehead, he summoned the power of the dark side and released an invisible explosion of telekinetic energy at their transport. It slowly tipped off and fell into the streets of Toydaria, leaving a big heap covered in burning red fire.

Finally, the deed for Dooku was done. He was to randezvous with his Sith Master on a Separatist dreadnaught. Feeling triumph, he now couldn't wait to present Dooku with the results of his mission.

**AS SAVAGE OPRESS ENTERED DOOKU'S DARK CHAMBERS, **dragging Katuunko's body with sadistic satisfaction, he appeared a hulking shadow of chaos—a similarity to those like Darth Nihilus who had dominated planets so long ago. Savage could only imagine the power at his fingertips when he had reached full attainment of his destiny as a Sith.

As Dooku turned around, his grim and silent apprentice swung Katuunko's corpse by the leg once again, and sent him crashing onto the floor between them.

"You ignorant _beast!_" Dooku snarled, balling his hands into fists and swinging them down on an invisible surface as he approached the confused and fearful Savage Opress.

What had he done to disappoint his Master? And what punishment awaited him?

"I told you, I wanted him _alive!_"

The Count unleashed a large frenzy of lightning bolts upon Savage, and the hulking Zabrak could feel the overextended electrons flowing painfully through his large body, growing without any source from within. Savage screamed through his clenched teeth and as soon as he fell to his knees, Dooku stopped.

Wiping tears of blood from his eyes and clasping his hand onto his forehead, he begged, "Forgive me, Master . . ."

His Master only grinned. "That is not the way of the dark side."

_If only I didn't forget._

The torture began again, and demoralization began to overwhelm Opress. He turned for the door and crawled slowly, but Dooku's command of the Force was like a magnet—keeping him at bay and feeling every sensation of pain until the day's end.

But then, it stopped. Before Savage, the chamber doors opened, revealing a whip-thin woman clad in black robes. As soon as Dooku saw her for himself, he stopped instantly.

"Ventress," he gasped.

To Savage, this was all new. What was this? An affair, possibly? A Sith rivalry? Could it have been another apprentice?

Whatever it was, Savage had never seen a _Ventress_ before.

"That's no way to treat your apprentice," she said slowly, placing a fist above Opress as though a sign of protection. "I should know."

Then Dooku's lightsaber was lit. "Savage, you can make amends for your mistake . . . by destroying this _witch!_"

Her only response was an eloquent laugh. "I don't think that will be happening—will it, _Savage?_"

As Opress stood up, ready to pound her in with his bare fists, she raised her finger and bitterly touched his forehead.

"_You have a new purpose . . ."_

_A new sense of principles and loyalty was brought about._

"_You are a new being . . ."_

_The past was consumed; the future became expanded._

"_You have been reborn . . ."_

_The power found its potential. It couldn't be stopped._

_Asajj. Savage._

The trance broke in a few seconds, and Savage found his eyes rolled at the back of his head. As they rolled back to normal sight, he saw who was standing in front of—Asajj Ventress, Dathomirian trainer, mate of Savage Opress, Master of Savage Opress, lethal and more democratic a Master than Dooku.

_"__Remember where your true loyalties lie?"_

Opress responded in a way he knew Dooku didn't understand. "With _you,_ Ventress." He glanced at a pair of curve-hilted lightsabers similar to Dooku's own design hooked on her belt, and now did he realize what she really wanted from the day she had focused from his home on Dathomir to the skies of space.

They both turned and ignited their lightsabers, ready to take revenge for both of their personal reasons. Ventress charged forward, letting out a cry of battle as she swung rabidly at Dooku, who barely managed to dodge all of her swings and finally caught her blade, then kicked her strongly onto the ground. Savage charged forward as well and attempted to dice him, even though he ended up nearly tripping.

As Ventress locked sabers with Dooku again, Savage rushed forward and tried to kill him. They both backed off from the clumbsy fatality and Dooku was already in action again, overwhelming Ventress single-handedly with fast Makashi strokes, then spinning and battering her with his boot and his hands.

Anger flared. Savage jumped into mid-air and landed next to Dooku, swinging downward and then vertically, both of which the Count dodged. He ignored Ventress as she prepared to join the fight again. Seizing the moment, he sent two blows at Dooku that were dodged again, then countered by harnessing all of his physical strength and slamming it directly onto Dooku's blade.

He was _floored._

"Finish! Now!" Asajj ordered.

Savage rose his saber and rushed forward, though Force lightning sent him arcing backward and onto a wall in the chamber. He shook his head and the smoke wore off of his armor. As Ventress unsuccessfully swung at a focused, yet weaponless Dooku, Opress rushed in again missed a hulking swing. He attempted to plunge his saber into Dooku again and was sent to his knees by another wave of lightning.

He took many breaths desperately and looked up at the combatants. Dooku had somehow resummoned his lightsaber and desperately blocked Ventress's wild swings. He tried to run forward again and was sent back by _more_ lightning. Would the Count's power ever be exhausted?

The two locked sabers again, and Ventress sharply said, "Get _up._ We must defeat him! Get _up!_"

Dooku staggered Ventress and sent a bolt into Opress's chest, which quite literally scorched him more than his armor.

"Kill him! Kill him, you _fool!_" she yelled.

Savage began to feel hate for both of them. Disappointing his mate was one thing, but with endless verbal abuse at this rate, he was beginning to reconsider life as a Sith. He could run while they were fighting, but what was it that kept him behind?

One last charge, and he was sent back in defeat once again.

"I . . . can't," he groaned. "He's too _powerful._"

"Your weakness will _not_ be my downfall!"

As Ventress pressed against Dooku, the Count joined in the conversation. "A failed apprentice makes for a foolish Master!"

This was borderline harsh. He shook his head again—not for recovery, but because he was beginning not to know what he lived for or believed in. And then . . .

He felt the dark side calling to him, with promises of power and worthiness. No, the dark side didn't take Savage Opress over . . . but he still had a will to maim each of the Sith before him relentlessly.

No, Savage Opress took the dark side over.

He felt the voice of the Dathomirian ancients vocalize his scream of hate, releasing all that held him back and the pain that had always used to restrict him. At this very moment—this very brief but memorable moment—he  
saw himself as a god of the dark side.

Standing up to his full height, he extended both of his arms, and both Ventress and Dooku were lifted meters off the floor, grabbing at their throats desperately. Where Ventress gasped for air, Dooku narrowed his eyes in disgust of being unable to free himself, and he tried to breathe through his nose.

"Dear love, no!" she screamed through her choked tone.

_Dear love._

How could she possibly think she had any power over him anymore, mate or not? He was absolutely betrayed—he felt immense hurt, and this was all fair. He _earned_ this justice. To think he felt that Ventress knew about democracy more than Dooku . . . they were the ones that created this riot, and if it was ever going to end, it would have to do so with the end of their miserable existences. It was time to crush Ventress's heart and ruin all the time she had invested for her revenge on Dooku.

He pulled them back—almost gravitationally—and then released kinetic energy, throwing them at the transparasteel viewport that separated space from the chamber the three battled in. In a flash, his lightsaber was ignited. Rushing forward, he ragdolled Ventress across the room by slamming her blades with his own, then prevented another lightning attack by Dooku by spinning and Force waving him near Ventress's position.

He felt invincibility, and so he raised his lightsaber again and ran towards the viewport in the chamber so that he could space both of them, whether or not it meant his life had to be sacrificed. But their telekinetic retaliation spoiled the moment. He fell back against the door to the chamber smoking with a lightning attack, but wearing it off fast enough.

As he caught his breath, Dooku fled into an emergency hatch built into the floor, and Ventress followed him. He ran forward to follow as well, but as it closed in front of him, he realized he was simply too large to fit through.

_No!_

_Why must I be separated from revenge now!?_

He prepared to cut his way through when suddenly, the door to the chamber opened, and he sensed _them_ again . . .

General Skywalker and his still to-be-known Jedi companion.

"We'll take him together," Skywalker's assistant declared.

"Right."

_When will this war of manipulations ever end?_

Tired of all the burdens he faced all together and hating the entire galaxy for its cruel deviations, he took a low, threatening breath and charged at both of them. He pushed telekinetically as he came, sending them backward against the walls in the corridors of the ship.


	7. Chapter 7

CHAPTER 7

_I want him to see what it's like to be helpless and afraid._

_I want him to know what it's like to be a victim. I want_

_him to understand that what he did to my father—to me—_

_was wrong!_

_~Serra, having experienced the manipulations of the Sith_

**SEPARATIST DREADNAUGHT IN ORBIT ABOVE TOYDARIA**

**SAVAGE KEPT THE JEDI IN RETREAT. ANAKIN SKYWALKER **continuously countered with Djem So power strikes from time to time while his counterpart kept them both well-defended with Soresu moves. But Savage moved accordingly as though he knew how this entire battle was planned out.

He battered Anakin away twice, then pressured his help, and eventually locked saber blades with both of them at the same time. He was pushed away by their combined physical might and an unsuspecting B-1 battle droid was thrown at the dangerous Sith Warrior. Using his right hand, he threw the useless scrap metal out of way and as he raised his saber in his left hand to keep himself defended from a round of blows, they instead used heavy attacks to slam it out of his hands.

Taken by surprise, he was suddenly burned with sizzling marks mostly on his chest and shoulders by the blue lightsabers. Before more damage was done, he roared furiously and began to ragdoll them with his hard punches. Then, they both spun in a way that synchronized and before landing a blow on Savage, he caught both of them by their throats and blew them all the way to the entrance of the hangar.

Summoning his fallen lightsaber, he charged at them again and kept them in retreat, once again. Dealing two blows and defending one, he pushed them away and swung again. The two Jedi barely survived it by jumping clear.

Suddenly, blaster fire erupted all around him. The droid forces assemled in the hangar now targeted him—and only him. The Jedi got to be the exceptions.

_Dooku, I'll kill you one day . . ._

Ignoring the two Jedi Knights, he turned his attention to the Separatists and defied loss by way of defeat by mere _droids._ Grinning with amusement at this point, he began to deflect blaster bolts back where they came from. As more droids converged on him from behind, he transferred his lightsaber from the front to the back, and still they kept coming.

Windmilling his lightsaber to keep himself protected again, several shots were sent into his back, and he yelped—not out of pain, but annoyance. He turned and began to deflect _their_ firepower, but there was now too many. No matter how hard he tried, he was sent stumbling from side to side by the increasing impact.

Calling upon the power of the dark side again, he raised his arms and found invincibility again. Treating the blaster bolts as though they were a light show that reflected off of his body, he took a step forward and spread his arms to the side, repulsing all droid opposition and the Jedi spectators.

He was the only one left standing. But he didn't want to be the only one lying in a grave by day's end.

Instinctively, he ran to the soler sailer and in only a few seconds, he had already plotted a course for Dathomir. He didn't care if Dooku wanted back this stolen expensive item in the future. He had stolen far worse.

**OPRESS WAS NOW LIMPING THROUGH THE TEMPLE OF THE **Nightsisters, battered and scarred. As soon as he settled down from the war he refused to lose in his heart, awareness had truly kicked in. Now especially did he feel demoralized. The only thing keeping him from succumbing to his wounds was his willpower.

Regularly, the Nightsisters wouldn't care much if they saw any injured _man_ in their Temple. Concern was unusual among them. Perhaps it was because he played the role of Talzin's favorite.

Speaking of whom, he had decided that she was the only one who could help him survive. It was inevitable for a Separatist infiltration to occur later in the next year, so he had to keep moving. Sanctuary wasn't enough—he needed real help. An isolated, old witch wasn't going to grant that—but she _was_ going to grant guidance where it was needed, he knew.

He finally reached Talzin's retreat that he had finally seen for the first time—a comfortable room with pillars housing orange-lit orbs, and it seemed she was focusing on a traditional Dathomirian painting on her rockwall, as though she had seen something meaningful and foreshadowing. He knew well that such powerful users of the Force—yes, he finally knew to call it that—and particularly the Nightsisters could gain great foresight over time.

He narrowed his eyes on her reluctantly, without hidden contempt. Why hadn't she intervened when she could? But then again, he'd have to hide his anger at the moment for the time being, enable to get what he needed—what he _wanted._

He held his chest and breathed quietly, and as soon as he got near the table inside the small room, he rested a hand on it and balanced himself.

"You have come home to us," she finally said, in a warm and welcoming tone for her accent. She turned to face him.

With undisguised weariness, his legs shook and he fell backward, the chair following him to his right side. His lightsaber hilt fell out of his hand and he moaned with annoyance.

Softly, Talzin walked over to Savage and knelt over him, her long red robes partially draping over his body. Like a mother, she rubbed Savage's left eye—bruised and purple, it wasn't easy to focus. She also pulled him up gently, showing understanding of his sensitivity he always tried to hide. She let him catch his raspy breath and remained patient for him to speak.

"I was betrayed by Ventress—the Jedi are after me! I'm not nearly strong enough to defeat them all!" he expressed in desperation, his closed fists shaking.

"Calm yourself. You _will_ be."

She held his hands and helped him stand up. Then, with a gesture, an orange-lit orb on her table of reflection slid closer to them.

"I . . . I don't understand," he admitted. "Who will teach me?"

"You have a brother."

_. . . What?_

_But Feral__—_

"A brother?" He stared at the orb with disgust, seeing nothing but odd shapes like in a Mon Calamari opera. "But all of my kin were _killed!_"

"Not all of them."

Suddenly, the three-dimensional figure of a Zabrak appeared inside the orb, surrounded by void. He held a grim scowl in his expression. With red skin and black tattoos painted on his body—a darker design than the natural Nightbrother forms—his eyes were golden, gleaming with hatred.

"He lives in the Outer Rim, in exile. You will find him. He will teach you everything you need to learn to become even _more_ powerful."

He was in awe of this opportunity, but still remained in the dark. "My brother, how . . . how will I find him?" He faced Mother Talzin directly.

She held out what he at first thought was a necklace with a shell attached to it. But she opened it and a sky-blue emblem rested inside the silver container. As she closed it, she told him, "This talisman has been imbued with the power of our clan. It will be your compass." She hung it on his neck, rubbed his cheek and continued, "You have an important destiny to fulfill, Savage Opress. You, and your brother.

"Go. You will know where to find him."

Having a feeling that this was just the beginning, he mustered his strength and summoned his lightsaber, then nodded to her.

"I will return, Mother."


	8. Chapter 8

CHAPTER 8

_Information is a commodity. It can be traded, sold, and_

_purchased. And in the end, credits are only as useful as the_

_secrets they can buy._

_~Darth Bane's beliefs_

**PLOP DRIBBLE'S, STOBAR**

**SAVAGE OPRESS, A YEAR LATER, DWELLED SILENT AND ALONE ON **Stobar, inside of a popular restaurant known as Plop Dribble's. It suited him fine enough—the visitors were normally quiet mercenaries and bearable customers of all species. He was studying the green Dathomirian Star Map projected by the opened talisman that Mother Talzin had given to him long ago, for the guidance he required.

The map resembled space itself. It seemed that where he was at this moment, he was close to a clue that would lead him to his brother presumably alive and in the Outer Rim. He had learned from his talisman Darth Maul's entire Sith life over the entire year. He had been an undetected and strengthened Sith Assassin since childhood, making all the difference in the galaxy just by carrying out his Master's biddings and his career had ended by overconfidence, the lead to a death that he somehow survived. A Jedi _Padawan_ had defeated him. He almost reconsidered if he really had anything to learn from his brother other than mistakes.

A WA-7 service droid—Feminine programming, its version of being female—swiveled around to stop by at his table, ignoring his focus and merely staring at him, clearly expecting acknowledgment. In turn, he decided to turn the droid's expectations aside and remained silent until it got the  
hint.

"Can I get you something?" it openly asked.

His nostrils slowly flared in annoyance. He had more important things to worry about.

The droid then hesitated before repeating itself to the unknown Sith Lord. "Can I get you something?"

It was amazing to Savage, how even service droids could be so oblivious to conceptual situations of this particular genre. He peered into the image projected in front of him more closely, focusing on the region he and his brother were inside of, and still the droid hadn't left.

It even had its own persona.

"Can I _get_ you something?"

"_No!_" he finally answered, while at the same time slamming his massive fists onto the table he sat in front of. Silverware clattered and the impact caused the floor beneath him to shake. The attention of the unsuspecting was drawn. He was sure they got the idea.

As if things couldn't get any worse, a blond human female came to ease the situation—from her point of view, anyway.

"Hey, Marwigo," she said, her accented voice containing a bit of sassiness and high-pitched tones. She bumped the droid away with her hip as she suggested, "Why don't you let me handle this one?"

It left somewhat grudgingly, as though not so much as satisfied with its life—if one could call it that.

"Hey there, honey." She smiled calmly and rested her elbow on the back of his seat. "Can I get you something?"

_Not this again. How can her brain cells be so depleted?_

He was simply done. No matter who came to question him, nor how many times, he would turn them down one by one if need be.

"_Ooh,_ what's _that?_" She became mesmerized with his ancient talisman as though it were a toy. She carelessly reached out to hold on to it, deactivating the projected image in the process. "That looks _very_ valuable."

_I'm done._

Unhesitantly, he clamped down his large hand onto the back of her neck, pressing on her throat and becoming satisfied by the ragged gasps of pleading breaths that came from her mouth.

"It _is,_" he finally said.

She began to reach the narrow last edges of life, and he gritted his teeth with a monstrous glee as she uselessly beat on his chest with her own fist.

"Hey, stop!"

He turned to see where the other voice had come from. A tentacle-faced humanoid had been charging at him from behind with a frying pan in his right hand. It truthfully was a humiliating posture, a humorous form of opposition.

Regretfully, he let go of the waitress and threw it at the alien humanoid. He'd have rather killed her, but she seemed his only resource of defense. Convincing himself it wasn't pity and swallowing the disappointment down, he ran for the back door behind the bar before higher security measures were taken, knowing fully well that he'd drawn more attention than he should have.

**NOW HE WAS INSIDE A HANGAR, WHERE SEVERAL CARGO VESSELS **remained. Workers all around lifted crates containing compartments of any kind. Before proceeding to the heart of the hangar, he began evaluating, wondering which route would be best to take while remaining undetected. If he didn't get off of Stobar anytime soon, he'd already be in custody.

To his left was a conveniently shadowed stack of cargo crates, with few people walking around that area. Using that as his best option, he proceeded to the crates while using the Force and its manipulative nature to refocus the surprised attention of the workers elsewhere. As soon as he arrived at his destination—crouched and at the ready of any surprises—the veins of his talisman glowed with a mystic green-blue.

"Mother Talzin?" he asked aloud.

It couldn't have been some mere message from her. There must have been something of interest at this particular coordinate that he had to find. He glanced at a cargo crate behind him. Brushing off dust from the rusty metal with his hands, he held it to his talisman, which resulted in its more lively interaction.

"This dust—it's a _clue._"

He wasn't here by any meaningless chance, he finally decided. This was a part of the mystery.

Drawing himself up to his full height, he looked around and considered his surroundings again—the only other thing he would need was a ship that could be passed by without any suspicion. Clearly, Dooku's soler sailer would be confiscated and marked as stolen property, and there was no point in travelling the planet all over again with the risks he faced.

The nearest large randing lamp of a cargo freighter was already closing up. He estimated that if he sprinted forward quick enough, he could spring up and make entry.

So he did.

Taking a deep breath, he risked discovery in the light while nobody paid attention and leaped high enough to grab the top of the considerably large-sized ramp. Then he forced himself over it and slid down slowly head-first, barely risking the lower half of his torso. His robes cushioned his down-sliding, and he was finally inside the ship.

He stood up and took a few steps forward before the final security door crushed him. The ship's interior—for as far as he could see—contained a single hallway, likely leading to the cockpit.

In front of him walked an unknowing cargo hauler—a Sakiyan by the looks of it, judging by the stance in which he walked, the structure of his body and the pale tone of his skin. He seemed anxious at his current situation. If he was dissatisfied now, this was just the beginning for him.

As soon as Savage took his heavy steps forward, the cargo hauler turned in surprise.

"Huh—hey, what are _you_ doing here?" he asked. "Get out of here, I'm about to take off!"

_You have no idea who you are talking to._

"The cargo that just dropped off," spoke the grim Zabrak warrior, finally releasing himself from the shadows and striking fear into the pilot. "What planet did it come from?"

"The junk fields on planet Lotho Minor," he replied in worry, holding his hands out in defense.

He shoved the Sakiyan around. "Take me there."

"Okay, okay! You're not gonna kill me, are you?"

Savage didn't answer. He only kept the fearful man walking and sealed the door behind them shut. In but a moment, they reached the cockpit. Opress folded his arms—awaiting the transition of his current location—while the Sakiyan in the pilot's seat tapped away at the control console. Then they were finally moving.

The Sakiyan sighed gruffly. "Just my luck I gotta go back to the scrap pile floatin' in space."

"Just get _moving!_" Savage fixed his irritated glare on the back of the Sakiyan's head, ready to plunge his lightsaber into his lesser body if another word of defiance or negativity reached his ears.

"Fine! I guess things could be worse . . . though I'm not sure how."

**AFTER A FORTUNATELY UNTROUBLESOME FLIGHT TO THE PLANET, **Opress was finally inside of Lotho Minor. He could tell why the pilot lacked excitement, though disapproving of it—the planet could be considered more of a dustball than Tatooine itself. The difference was vast—life was non-existant, one couldn't walk a step without taking a blast of orange-brown sand to the eyes, and the only kinds of areas he could call buildings were abandoned tents and wreckage.

Still, all that mattered was that his brother was _here._ He could feel it, his talisman was only there for clarity at the very moment.

"He is close," he said to himself.

But then the life of his amulet began to fade. There was only one possiblity—he was being taken the wrong way. He waited until the flight path was clear of any possible collateral damage, then turned to the driver.

And gripped him about single-handedly by the throat.

"Get. Out. _Now!_"

The Sakiyan kept repeating the word _no_ but it didn't do him any good. He was left as a ragdolled heap inside the corridor to the cargo freighter's cockpit, struggling to remain conscious.

Savage sealed all of the doors in that section of the ship and ejected the useless pilot.

For a moment, he considered how it might feel to be his own victim. Demoralized and unable to determine when death came, the best the Sakiyan could've hoped for was the end of the terror he faced.

He was lucky to be granted such.

The Zabrak Sith finally took charge of flying, steering the ship around. "I'm here at last, brother."

He could hardly see, so he decided to land between two oversized piles of scrap. His biggest hope was that he wasn't heading down into a chasm where he would crash and burn.

Luckily, that wasn't the case.

Ready to get his boots dirty, he left the cockpit and exited the freighter by using the smaller side-ramp. As soon as he was out in the hardly manageable environment, he tread carefully and kept his head low and shielded.

His talisman began to sound. He held his hand to it and watched it, hoping his cluttered surroundings weren't interfering with its communications. But then it completely shut down.

He took his two fingers and patted it three times in an attempt to make it work again, but to no avail.

"No—no . . . not when I'm so close!" He had dealt with betrayal, bounties and now all for nothing. He howled at the top of his lunges to release his frustrations the best way he could, raising his defiant fists to the air.

Next to him on a finely lined pile of scrap was a slithering grey snake. But it didn't matter to him—it was by no means any match for his command of the Force.

Apparently, it _spoke._ High-pitched too—the Sith's favorite.

"Hey, big guy!" it called.

"I don't have time for you!" He tried to slam his fists onto its body, but it escaped his reach, and headed to the ground.

"Over here!" It began to travel under his legs.

_Enough playtime._

He took three hard steps on the snake, each one causing it to gasp painfully. As soon as his foot was on its throat, he grabbed it and yanked it upward, staring into its large eyes.

After catching its breath, the snake asked, "Y-you tracking somebody?"

"What do _you_ know about it?" he inquired, pointing his index finger pointed at the face.

"I-I-I'm Morley . . . I could help you," it managed, blinking furiously. "We've got eveything here. I can get you what you want. For the right amount of course."

Narrowing his eyes, he tightened his hold on the odd being and caused it to yelp out painfully.

"I-I mean . . . it would be payment-free pleasure, of course!" He chuckled dismissively, as though it were its last straw.

"Yeah? I think I can manage on my own." Savage tossed it aside and continued walking. His amulet sounded again, but it was still dead. "Show me something . . . show me which way to go!"

"What you need is a guide."

_Not again._

"Leave me _alone!_" he rumbled.

"Wait!" Now the snake was traveling beside him. "Trust me, not everything on this planet is junk."

He looked down at the being. "It's not?"

They stopped in front of another gate-like pile of wreckage as the snake continued, "There are things like me—things that live and breathe."

_And talk a bit too much for their own good._

"Perhaps you're looking for something a bit more like that?"

"Show me."

"You're already heading in the right direction," Morley said, then chuckling, "even though your handy little doodad there isn't working. But you'll need my guidance to avoid the firebreathers."

"Firebreathers?" he inquired.

Suddenly, the wreckage broke up into three large mechanical monsters, using compactors as mouths and containing large barrages of fire within them.

_Ah. Now I understand._

He braced himself with his arm as plenty of molten rocks descended from the skies and nearly fell upon him.

"Yep. Firebreathers. They'll get ya! Follow me," Morley instructed.

Morley slithered cautiously through the chaos, and the Zabrak Sith Lord trotted along with him, wildly dodging debris and speeding past the large monsters.

**THE TWO FINALLY REACHED A SETTLEMENT, WHICH SAVAGE **hadn't counted on at all. He could sense many mysterious life forms remaining in their personal territories, mostly cowering from the trespassers.

They were short and wore robes, and metal somehow held them together. They also contained certain blasters of a design he hadn't seen yet. The other interesting detail that compared their appearance to a Jawa's was their yellow, glowing dots that he called eyes.

"Ah, the Junkers," said Morley, introducing more of the scene to Savage. "Junkers . . . strange folk."

"Yeah," Savage agreed. "Looks like it."

They began making threatful gestures as the two passed them by.

"We'd better get out of here. They can be a little cranky," Morley advised, then chuckling dismissively again. "Big guy, we really should go."

Savage only snorted at his cowardice. "I'll fight."

Then they all screamed wildly and converged on him from all directions, aiming rifles at the only man willing to fight and waiting for him to draw his own weapon.

Cautiously, he drew his staff with only one side ignited, in a practiced Djem So stance, flourishing by flipping it around once. Then, with three quick movements, three Junkers were thrashed wildly to the ground by his crimson blade. Then he ignited the other side and created a violently indefensible flurry of twin-blade twirls, slaughtering those so foolish as to lift an arm at him. He kept whirling his blades about until there were about five left.

Then his senses heightened.

Instinctively, he turned and slashed his blade at a sniper bolt, deflecting it directly back to where it came from.

With that, the fight was over. Savage stood victorious as the Junkers fled in defeat.

"Wow!" Morley said, exaggerating that one word into an impressed laughter.

"Let's go."

They continued walking and then his talisman became active again. He stared down at it, searching for more clarity.

"So . . . who are you looking for?" the snake asked.

He looked down at the only helpful, yet unhelpful companion he had in this junkyard.

_For your own good, curb your curiosity._

Then he looked away and continued looking for any signs.

"Come on!" he insisted.

The truth was that Savage was ashamed to tell anyone that he was searching for a man—a brother—likely dead or barely getting by on this pitiful spec of a planet. But anything to get Morley to shut up.

"My brother," he finally admitted. "I've been searching for him."

"Does . . . he look like you?"

_That _drew Savage's attention. "Have you seen him?"

"No, I just heard stories about a horned man. I thought it was just an old local legend."

"How old?"

"_Old._" Morley looked from side to side before he added, "They say he drags things down—beneath—and they _never_ come back up. Oh, but it's only a legend, like I said."

_Then this is only the beginning of the legend._

He walked about with Morley when suddenly rain came falling down from the skies. It seemed that with each drop, his armor stung and he felt a pinch each time.

"Acid rain," Morley pointed out, his scaley skin suddenly seeming very crisp. "It'll melt us down if we don't find shelter soon."

This of all planets Savage Opress least expected to have acid rain on its occasions. The only planet he recalled of the sort was Vjun.

But now wasn't the time for questions. He spotted a hut nearby.

"Over there!" he said, pointing forward at an abandoned small building.

Morley was the first one in, but then he gasped in surprise. "What the—"

Savage finally got in and saw the situation for himself. There were dead Junkers lying on the ground or hanging from the ceiling. He took a look outside one last time to check for any other predators, which there weren't.

Then he became alerted by his amulet once again. It was glowing brighter than it had before. It could only mean one thing.

"This is _it._" Savage spotted someone lying face-down on a rusted barrel. He placed his hand on the being and his amulet glowed again. But as he turned the body over, it was just another Junker. He became frustrated and moved about the room, looking for more clues and pushing the corpse hanging from the ceiling out of the way.

"It doesn't look like anyone's here, big guy," said Savage's snake assistant.

He glared in return. "I can see that!" He proceeded to topple over another Junker corpse hanging onto a windmill and he looked over the area again. All he could feel was hopelessness, betrayal and confusion. "Mother Talzin . . . she betrayed me!" His heart sank.

And then blind rage took over. He slammed his bare fists on the windmill the same way he had done on Plop Dribble's, he tossed corpses around and yelled furiously at the joke his entire life revolved around.

Taking a step toward the entrance and exit of the hut, he suddenly felt the floor beneath him shift, and he hesitated in confusion.

"She's not the only one who betrayed you." The slithering liar whipped its tail onto the surface underneath Savage, and he was sent down through an unending hole.

"_No!_" he screamed, taking his echoes as the only people who knew of his death and cared about him.

"You'll make a good offering," Morley called down, "and when my Master's finished with you, _I_ get the leftovers!"


	9. Chapter 9

CHAPTER 9

_If a lightsaber loses its power, is it still a lightsaber? And if a_

_Jedi loses her powers, is she still a Jedi?_

_~Darth Traya's teachings_

**LOTHO MINOR**

"**_AGH!_****"**

Relative silence had finally fallen. Not another terrified scream to forever dominate his mind.

And yet he survived.

Whether or not it was luck or the fate of the Force, Savage Opress couldn't determine. The fall had seemed unending and treacherous, as though the place he always destined to die forgotten. He had been sent into a literal hell-hole—a tunnel of darkness that Savage would likely come to be crazed in for his last years, unless he found some way out.

That was a hopeless thought as of yet, but it was the only reason Opress could think of to live for. So far, he had only one source of survival—light. And so he ignited his crimson blade and held it high, ready to maim Morley or his _Master_ if he saw either one of them. But he couldn't let blind rage disable his caution like it had last time—he had to recall Morley's last words to him.

_"__You'll make a good offering, and when my Master's finished with you, _I_ get the leftovers!"_

Yes, that was exactly what Morley had said.

Bearing that warning in mind, he traveled once again on dangerous ground, and then he could've sworn he heard Morley's voice.

"He's going to get you!" echoed that traitorous voice. "He's going to eat you alive! No—not me! Please, not me!"

And then came the last screams of life.

"Is that you, brother?" Savage called out, strong and loud enough to reach the very end of the unending maze.

He paused silently, awaiting some other sound inside this burial. He heard a ferocious repitition of buckling metal.

"Is that you, brother?"

There was no sense just standing around and baiting some fearful being inside the crammed area. The best way to find resolution was to hunt in this territory.

Using his perceptions, he spun aroun and ran in the direction of the metallic sounds, certain that his target was where he was heading. He turned out to be right—a hissing creature coated in the shadows paced backward, half animal and half machine.

This must've been Morley's _Master,_ the one responsible for his brother's death.

"_You!_" He followed it through a hole he had to climb through upward. "Stop there! What have you done with my brother!? Answer me, you _monster!_"

The creature shrieked and launched itself at Savage, sending the hulking Zabrak slammed against the wall. It grabbed for his lightsaber's handle, but Opress seized the moment and found an opening in the frenzy, seeing a mechanical apparatus that affixed six spider-like legs to the bottom half of the creature's torso.. He managed to knock it away with his leg. The creature's six metal legs clattered as it tumbled across the floor, but it rolled up onto its tapered feet and lashed out again, punching and kicking. Savage's powerful muscles beared the assault, and he used his lightsaber to ward the attacker off.

The creature pried at the central grip of his hilt, and the two separate components for each blade detached, one hilt ending up in the monster's hand.

Opress blocked a savage downward slash, and the two locked each halves of Savage's lightsaber. He began to push down on the locked blades, hoping to behead the attacker. But then, as he became closer, his amulet glowed brighter than ever, and in that light he discovered . . .

"_What?_" he asked aloud. "It . . . _can't_ be."

_Darth Maul._

The former apprentice of Darth Sidious, the murderer of Qui-Gon Jinn, another Dathomirian Zabrak stood before him. And with the talisman of clarity at Savage's side, he knew there was only one possibility.

_Darth Maul my brother, and he's alive._

_Mother Talzin _didn't_ betray me._

Opress grunted and fell back. "You, Darth Maul," he gasped, "are who I've been searching for."

To his dismay, Darth Maul became distracted with confusion. He resummoned his lightsaber and reconnected both halves in case of another onslaught.

"I thought you were dead. I am Savage Opress. You are my kin," he explained. But what hope did Savage have of getting through to a man who had gone mad for nearly twenty years?

"_No!_" The man—the creature—wore a mask of denial, and did not know how to disguise his deep clinic insanity.

"We are brothers."

"You don't know. You don't know _anything!_"

Opress was dissappointed. His only other brother he had never met. He felt sorry for him that he became this way—and at the same time he was disgusted that weakness seemed his only heritage.

There still had to be hope. He placed his hand over his chest. "I _know_ I am your blood."

Maul only glared at him, retreating to his personal fire he had built while clambering over junk and shoving aside rotting carcasses.

As the man-turned-creature knelt on the filthy floor, Opress took observations of Maul's _art_ on the walls; many sadistically thought out stick figures stood desecrating bodies over and over again with red- and blue-bladed lightsabers.

"Never never never never never . . ." the crazed Maul chanted.

With dismay, Savage said, "_This_ is where you live? How long have you lived here?"

Maul gnawed at red bone and madly rolled his eyes back and forth. "Years and years and years and years."

"You are a powerful Sith," Savage replied solemnly. "The whole galaxy shook before your power. Do you remember?"

He leered in response. "Always remember, always remember."

Pausing and re-evaluating his next statement, he eyed the robotic apparatus beneath Maul's rib cage. "Your legs?"

"That scum took it."

"The Jedi . . . you remember," he said pleasingly, cautiously taking a step toward his brother. "I've brought a gift for you."

"For me? Food?"

"No. Something to regain your memory." He finally removed the glowing talisman from his neck and handed it to Maul.

Maul clutched at the talisman and rocked back and forth on his legs, chanting traumatically.

Opress leaned closer to Maul. "Brother, what are you saying?"

"_JEDI!_" he screamed in return, tacking Savage against the wall and staring madly into his eyes, all despair and hate in his own. "Revenge . . . I must have revenge."

And then his eyes went wide and he collapsed.

Opress paused. "Brother?"

Was he _dead?_

No, he couldn't give up now. He had come this far and he refused to turn back.


End file.
